Administrative Referee

VSI Referees Clinic

28 September 2002

Outline

• Division of Authority Among Meet Referee, Deck Referee, Administrative Referee

• Major Roles of the Administrative Referee• Qualities of a Good Administrative Referee• Interaction with Meet Personnel• Meet Responsibilities• Needed Supplies

Administrative Referee

• Rule book does not make reference to a Meet Referee, Deck Referee or Administrative Referee

• All meets have all three types of Referees– One person may serve all three functions

in a B/C meet– Specific assignments are usually made in a

Championship (prelims/finals) style meet

Authority of Meet, Deck and Admin Referees

• Not defined in the rule book

• Delegated by the Meet Referee

• Communication is of critical importance– Meet Referee to Deck and Admin Referee– Admin Referee to the Dry Deck Officials– Deck Referee to Wet Deck Officials

Major Roles of the Administrative Referee

• May serve as Deputy Meet Referee if the Meet Referee is away from the venue

• Supervision of:– Entries and registration– Clerk of Course– Timing Equipment Operator (CTS, Daktronics)– Timing Judge– Computer Operator (Meet Manager)– Announcer– Results from Preliminary and Finals Heats

Major Roles of the Admin Referee (Cont.)

• Director of Intelligence for the Meet Referee– Develop a feel for arising issues– Sounding board for the Meet Referee– Preventive officiating

• Entry problems, scratch issues, timing adjustments, DQs

• Trainer for Apprentice Admin Referee

Qualities of a Good Administrative Referee

• Knowledgeable

• Detail Oriented

• Proactive (Preventative Officiating)

• Patient

• Quick

• Adaptive

Knowledge

• USA Swimming Rules & Regulations– Part One – Technical Rules– Part Two – Administrative Regulations

• LSC Policies– Virginia Swimming, Inc. Policies

Knowledge (Cont.)

• Meet Invitation– Times

• Warm-up Times and Lane Assignments• Officials Meeting• Coaches Meeting• Scratch Deadline• Positive Check-In Deadline

Knowledge (Cont.)

• Meet Invitation– Eligibility

• Entry limit and how handled if exceeded• Qualifying times (AA, A, BB, B, C or other)• Proof of times• Who can swim on a relay

– Must swim in an individual event?– Aggregate times vs composite times

– Proof of Times• Is it required• How is it being verified• Where is the information

Knowledge (Cont.)

• Meet Invitation– Penalties

• Failure to positively check-in• Failure to appear for prelims• Failure to appear for finals

– Re-entry procedure

Knowledge (Cont.)

• Meet Invitation– Relays

• Distribution of cards• Deadline for return

– Distance events or relays – fastest heat swimming in finals

• May have less than full heat for finals to maintain 3 swimmers/teams in single prelims heat

Detail Oriented

• See knowledge above

• Dry deck staff is briefed

• All forms required for the meet are available

• Particular care is taken with positive check-in and scratch procedures

Proactive

• Coaches Meetings– Make sure that coaches are aware of all upcoming

deadlines and penalties that may affect their swimmers

– Circumstances peculiar to a particular meet• 13&O combined in prelims, broken out into 13-14 and

15&O in finals

– Unsportsman-like behavior on last day of meet when individuals fail to scratch and yet have no intention of returning for finals

– When and where alternates report for finals

Proactive (Cont.)

• Missed swims in prelims when scratch procedures are in effect– Notify coach of missed swim, resulting

penalty, and meet re-entry procedure

• Missed swim in finals of a prelims/finals format meet when scratch procedures are in effect– Notify coach of missed swim and resulting

barring from further competition

Proactive (Cont.)

• Prelim results in a prelims/finals meet– Notify coaches of the need for a swim-off,

or the potential for a swim-off if a scratch occurs

– Notify coaches if a swimmer:• Moves up from consuls to finals• Moves up from alternate to consuls• Moves up from the field into an alternate

position

Proactive (Cont.)

• Review finals program for swimmer swimming back to back events with little rest and consider:– Manufacturing break– Inserting break– Running session very slowly if multiple

swimmers are in that situation

Proactive (Cont.)

• Review DQ log for developing trends– Particular official making disproportionate

number of calls• Official could be overcalling• Other officials could be undercalling

– May need to rebalance the deck– Particular call being made

disproportionately

Patient

• Hear coaches out when DQ or other problem is being discussed

• If a DQ is in dispute or a protest is being contemplated, hold off the posting of the results for the involved heat until there is resolution

Quick

• Makes a decision quickly after all facts are in hand

• Responsive to reasonable request made by coaches and/or athletes

• Post results as in a timely fashion

• Scratch and positive check-in sheets removed at correct time

Adaptive

• No two swim meets are alike

• Be prepared for the unexpected

• Nothing beats experience– The more you work, the easier it gets– Don’t be afraid to rely on the experience of

others

Interaction With Dry Deck Officials

• Dry Deck Officials– Clerk of Course– Timing Equipment Operator– Timing Judge– Recorder– Announcer

• Dry Deck Officials Meeting

Clerk of Course

• Required official except for dual meets (102.12.3)

• VSI Recommended Practice calls for meets with B/C swimmers to be clerked

• Other functions of a Clerk – Deck entries– Positive check-in– Scratching– Relay cards

Responsibilities at the Admin Table

• Timing Equipment Operator– Generates printout from timing equipment– Notes observed late touches or late start– Does NOT determine the official time

• Should not scratch through pad times, even when observed to be late

Responsibilities at the Admin Table (cont.)

• Timing Judge– Determines the official time under the

direction of the Referee (102.16.3.E)– Procedures and parameters must be

discussed prior to the start of the session• Method of adjustment• When the TJ can operate without Referee

intervention and when intervention is required

Responsibilities at the Admin Table (cont.)

• Recorder– Records the official time as determined by the

Timing Judge– Does NOT determine the official time their self

(even if the recorder is also a certified TJ)– Reports

• Positive check-in reports• Seeding of relay and positive check-in events• Results of prelims and finals• Etc.

Responsibilities at the Admin Table (cont.)

• Announcer– General guidelines (instructions)– Pre-session announcements (script + timeline)– National Anthem (5 min prior to start of session)– Announcing events and heats in prelims or timed

finals? (script)– Announcing qualifiers (script)– Announcing finalists (script)

Relay Take-Offs

• Chief Judge usually responsible for:– Assigning judges– Passing out slips– Collecting slips (even when no early take-off is

confirmed)

• Slips should be attached to DQ slip for early take-off

• Other slips should be collected and made part of the record

Handling DQs

• Timed Final Routing– S&T (Chief Judge) Deck Referee Timing

Judge Deck Referee or Runner Coach

• Championship Routing– S&T Chief Judge Deck Referee Timing

Judge Admin Referee Coach

• Referee authorized to sign DQs– Not determined by Admin Referee, but needs to

be told what the procedure will be by the Meet Referee

Positive Check-In Procedures (Usually Distance Events)

• Post check-in sheet well before deadline• Have Announcer make periodic announcements,

especially near deadline• Prior to deadline, check with coaches of swimmers

who have not checked in (preventative officiating)• At deadline, sign and indicate time on the check-in

sheet, and remove from Clerk of Course area• Have Recorder seed events and print out heat sheet• Post heat sheet and distribute to coaches and

officials

Scratch from Prelims Procedures (Senior Champs)

• Post Entry List report well before deadline• Have scratch forms and scratch box available• Have Announcer make periodic

announcements, especially near deadline• Remove scratch box from Clerk of Course area

at the conclusion of the scratch period• Have Recorder record scratches, seed events,

and print out heat sheet• Post heat sheet and distribute to coaches and

officials

Scratch from Prelims Procedures (Senior Champs) (cont.)

• Swimmers may now use a “declared false start” rather than “refuse the blocks” for a delay of meet DQ– The swimmer must report to the Referee

prior to the start of their race and declare their intent not to compete which will result in a DQ

– (Not an option in finals)

Missed Prelim Event Procedures (Senior Champs)

• Referee fills out a “No Show” slip• Swimmer is barred from further

individual and relay events for that day• The swimmer is not seeded into any

individual events on succeeding days unless they declare an intent to swim prior to the close of the scratch box for that day’s events (form is available)

Scratch from Finals Procedures (cont.)

• Obtain preliminary results for the event from the Recorder and ascertain that there are no outstanding problems

• Review the results and highlight any potential swim-offs

• Have the Announcer announce the qualifiers as per script

• Record announcement time on the results sheet

• Post the results sheet at the Clerk of Course

Scratch from Finals Procedures

• Have scratch sheets available• Be proactive, notify coaches early of known and

potential swim-offs• Update results sheet with scratches and intents to

scratch as they become known• At the close of the scratch period, indicate the time

on the results sheet, sign it, and remove it from the Clerk of Course area

• Notify coaches of a need for a swim-off• Have the announcer announce the alternates and

finalists as per the script

Scratch from Finals Procedures

• Distinguish between:– “I will scratch from the event indicated above.”– “I exercise the OPTION of scratching from this

event within 30 minutes after my last event of this session. My last event of this session is event #____.”

Heat Sheet for Finals

• Items to review prior to printing and posting– All events included and in the correct order

• Don’t forget fastest heat of distance event or relays if swimming in finals

– Scratched swimmers not listed– Seeding is correct for each heat– No tied swimmers split between groups or listed

as alternates

• Determine if any swimmers are swimming back to back events with little rest and determine how it will be handled

Swim-Off Procedures

• Swimmers with identical times that must be split into:– Different heats– A heat or an alternate position– First and second alternates– Second alternate and the remaining

swimmers

Swim-Off Procedures

• Swim-off is held at a time set by the Referee, but not more than 45 minutes after the last heat of any event in which any one of these swimmers is competing in that session

• Best to find a mutually agreeable time • Recorder must set-up swim-off in Meet

Manager• Make lane timer cards• Notify Deck Referee and Judges as to when

the swim-off will occur

Time Trial Procedures

• Coach/athlete must notify the Admin Referee by the time indicated in the Meet Invitation

• Swimmer must meet the criteria set forth in the Meet Invitation (frequently must have a realistic shot at a particular qualifying time; Referee’s discretion)

• Recorder must set-up event in Meet Manager• Make lane timer card(s)• Notify Deck Referee and Chief Judges

Administrative Forms

• Pass-down report• Relay take-off slips• DQ slips• DQ log• No-show slips• No-show log• Swimmer Re-entry

sheet• Scratch forms

• Relay cards• Computer Change

Forms• Report of Occurrence

Form• Meet Safety Procedures• Meet Invitation• VSI Policies• Rule Book

References

• 2001 VSI Swimposium Presentation

• Officials Swimming Manual (available on the Officials Section of www.usa-swimming.org)